From WOGWIKI
How to make a WAV (WOG Aerial Vehicle)
By: Cobra740 (Nathaniel)
Alright, after a few months of sitting around thinking about writing this... here it is.
* Disclaimer: I am not to be held responsible if anything goes wrong. By making one small careless mistake, you can be out several hundred dollars, your life, other's lives, your pet's lives (9 if you have a cat). There are many ways to make a WAV but so far, this is the cheapest good solution I have been able to make. If you have a better way to make one of these, post on the RR wiki or the forum. Good luck and don't make mistakes.
First off, you will need some tools, skills, and parts.
Tools:
Soldering iron Extra stranded core wire Solder Phillips head screwdriver Flat head screwdriver Metal cutting tools Glue (super glue works fast) Electrical tape Vice (or really strong teeth) Airplane coating (Monokote works well and I recommend it) Heat gun Several sharp knives File A Brain
Skills:
Soldering skills Getting fingers separated if you get super glue on them (this actually happens on accident) Basic wood shop skills COMMON SENSE
These are the current recommended AV parts for your very own WAV:
For the AV setup, you will need a camera, battery, transmitter, on ground display, and a receiver. For this guide, I will just put up the basic equipment to get all you WOGs up and running.
Transmitter and receiver combo: [1] Battery: 3 cell 11.1V LiPo? with at LEAST 800mah
A good charger for your lipo battery, the MINIMUM is going to be about $45 or so. You don't need a bad battery. Know the downsides to lithium. [2]
CCD Camera (NO CMOS, they suck) A few good ones can be found at hobby wireless, aim for 420 (please no jokes) lines of resolution or higher and the lower the lux rating, the better it sees at night. Another important feature is a fast adjusting shutter as the sky and earth differ greatly in brightness.
Your on-ground display can be as simple as a quick laptop setup with a TV card, or you can make your own helmet that holds a LCD screen. The problem with the TV setup (PCMCIA TV card) is that it tends to overheat in your laptop and get glitchy, this can cause a crash destroying all of your creation.
Keep in mind that you may need power adapters and extra connectors along with basic DC knowledge (polarity and such)
Picking the airplane: A good starter airplane would be the Hanger 9 Alpha 40 or Alpha 60 (bigger and can hold more) The reasons: No one is magically perfect at flying and both of these airplanes are made for beginners. The Wings provide good lift at slow flight speeds. Everything is RTF (Ready to Fly) in the RTF version, just a little assembly of the wings, tail, and wheels. If you want to go for another airplane, by all means... do it. Try it out and get back to us.
REMEMBER: Find a local flight club that has training for your first flights... THIS IS KEY to not killing your airplane. Or at least reducing the risk.
A good source for your airplanes is Craigs list, but be ready for a piece of crap if you don't know what you are doing. I got my WAV airplane for $50 off craigs list, the big catch is that it had been flown into the ground and a lot of it had snapped.
THE BUILD PROCESS:
First you must get everything above ready.
Hook up the parts outside of the airplane so that you have a good idea of how much space will be required and make the connections that are required.
Make a plan as to where the parts will go inside the airplane, the camera can be placed in a lot of areas on the airplane. I have chosen below the engine because I get a better sense of where I am flying and can get a good picture from there.
I put a switch for the current on the side of the airplane away from the exhaust so once the airplane is on the field, the video can be turned off without taking the wing off.
The wiring of the airplane will vary depending on the airplane, but I can give one big pointer: keep the transmitter and antenna away from the receiver of the airplane controls and the engine. I mounted mine in the back of my plane.
Keep everything as aerodynamic as possible, everything counts.
Watch the center of gravity, keep it where the manufacturer designed it to be.
Sadly I can only give tips for the build process. Be creative and safe, post videos of places you have explored with your WAV.
General TIPS:
Get a really good omni antenna for the receiver, or a couple directional antennas and a dual diversity receiver.
Always fly on good batteries.
Only SOLO after you are confident in your flying skills.
Look into the rules and regulations in your area (especially on the transmitting power allowed)
I know that the transmitter goes from the high range of 2.3ghz to the low range of 2.5 ghz. BE CAREFUL with those frequencies.
Do not use 2.4 ghz for your transmitter if it interferes with your controls.
Keep an eye out for how far away the plane is... it can run out of range fast.
If you are in the US: Get an AMA membership.
Bring a friend with you as a spotter if you lose video.
Do not fly in really bad conditions.
Keep an eye on how much flight time you have left.
Remember that if you fly over any military installation... you will have to face the consequences.
Do not fly over area 51.
Take a virtual flight simulator before your first flights. (The hangar 9 airplanes supply this)
If you have any questions about the WAV, you can contact me at mongo@#$2000@yahoo.com (replace @#$ with 400), on the RR IRC: I will be on under the name of Cobra740, or post in the RR forum and I will try to look at that somewhat often.
My new setup:
[3] CCD(I crashed it)
My old setup: [4] CMOS (still around but is being replaced with the CCD setup.